On time and intact implementation of California’s Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act , is critical to realizing the benefits of legalization and reducing the harms from decades of prohibition that have resulted in the mass incarceration and criminalization of low-income people of color, and utterly failed to protect public health and public safety.

Efficient implementation of Prop. 64 is urgent. While Prop. 64 legalized possession and consumption of cannabis products for adults 21 and over, there is still no legal source to obtain it, except for patients with a doctor’s recommendation, or grow at home (six plants per household).

The U.S. government inched closer to recognizing marijuana as medicine earlier this month when a federal research organization changed its tune on cannabis. The National Institute on Drug Abuse - which controls cannabis research in America - offered a more progressive stance on medical marijuana in a recent update to its webpage.

The chair of the Florida Senate's Health Policy Committee says they're at least two weeks away from voting on a medical marijuana bill.

The committee held a workshop on Wednesday as it began to consider five bills to implement Amendment 2. Sen. Dana Young, a Tampa Republican, says there isn't a consensus on a framework for what might come out of the committee.

Amendment 2 was approved by 71 percent of voters last November. It took effect on Jan. 3 and allows higher-strength marijuana to be used for a wider list of medical ailments.

The Legislature and Department of Health have until July to revise current rules and must implement them by October. The Legislature's 60-day session ends on May 5.

Recent polling shows majorities of nearly every demographic in the U.S. favors changing federal law regarding marijuana.

A recent poll from Quinnipiac University found a big division among Americans about legalizing marijuana at the federal level.

A large majority favored the idea. Asked if marijuana “should be made legal in the U.S.”, 59 percent said “yes” while 36 percent said “no.”

However, the poll found a real dividing line when it came to two groups:

I was asked to speak on a panel this morning to give the case for cannabis legalisation, and found it a useful exercise in tidying and focusing my thoughts. My overarching point was that, if it does happen, it’s probably going to be because of a fundamental shift in public opinion of the kind that’s taking place in some parts of the United States, so at this stage it’s most useful to consider how we might want to approach decriminalisation or full legalisation. Still, the broad case for cannabis legalisation is worth making, and I tried to do so.

Before she could become a top aide for President Obama, Alyssa Mastromonaco had a close call with the FBI.

It was Friday, October 5, 2008, and I was having a panic attack. I was working as the director of scheduling and advance for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and we were rounding the corner into the final month before the election. But the crisis before me in the Chicago headquarters that day had nothing to do with a bad debate performance, derailed travel schedule, or staff member saying something stupid to a reporter. I was freaking out because I love to smoke weed.

Wednesday's big legislative hearing on legalizing pot in Connecticut may have more to do with the state's huge money problems than with the issues surrounding marijuana use.

The bill to legalize recreational cannabis calls for a total state tax on pot sales of 30 percent, and the plan's supporters say that could bring in $100 million a year to help solve projected billion-dollar deficits.

More than a year after the Australian government legalized medical cannabis, patients in South Australia are still waiting for a scheme to effectively access medicine.

One lawmaker, Greens MP Tammy Franks, has criticized the government’s handling of the access issue as “offensive” and “a joke”—and she’s now leading the charge for reform.

You know what's deadlier than weed? Well, almost everything. But for the sake of comparison, let's put the slandered plant up against SWAT raids involving suspected weed dealers. According to data put together by the New York Times, at least 20 such raids since 2010 have turned deadly.

The House on Monday rejected a bill to ban the manufacture or sale of medical marijuana in food or drink.

House Bill 1392 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Springdale, received 52 votes in support and 40 against. Because it would change a voter-approved constitutional amendment, it required a two-thirds vote for passage, or at least 67 votes in the 100-member House.

The bill would allow a patient authorized to use medical marijuana to put the drug in his or her own food, or have it done by an approved caregiver, but dispensaries could not sell the drug in food.